Viscosupplementation is an intra-articular symptomatic treatment of mild osteoarthritis
in synovial joints. It normally consists of single or repeated injections of hyaluronan-
based fluids, aimed to restore desirable viscoelastic behavior of the synovial fluid
and thus recreate the intra-articular joint homeostasis. Recently, a novel viscosupplement
based on amidated carboxymethylcellulose has been developed by blending the
soluble polymer (CMCAp) with its crosslinked derivative (CMCAg) in appropriate proportions
and concentrations in order to ensure an optimal combination of flow behavior
and viscoelastic properties. The present work is concerned with the rheological monitoring
of the crosslinking reaction performed at 25 °C by starting from aqueous CMCAp
solutions in order to describe the time evolution of the linear viscoelastic moduli occurring
along the whole gelation process and to individuate how the polymer concentration
affects the mechanical response at the sol-gel transition and the fractal dimension of the
incipient polymeric network
